Method and system for handling interference between a low power network and a high power network sharing a common frequency band

Abstract

A method and a system for handling interference between a low power network and a high power network sharing a common frequency band are provided. The method includes receiving an association request message containing a set of parameters from the low power device. The method further includes determining a second set of parameters for transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on the first set of parameters, where the second set of parameters indicates resources allocated to the low power device for transmitting the data in a presence of interference from the high power network device on the common frequency band. Moreover, the method includes sending an association response message containing the second set of parameters to the low power device in response to the association request message.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of handling interference between a low power network device and a high power network device during communication on a common frequency band, the method comprising:
 receiving an association request message from the low power network device, wherein the association request message comprises a first set of parameters associated with data to be transmitted in an uplink direction;   determining, by an access point, a second set of parameters for transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on the first set of parameters, wherein the second set of parameters indicates resources allocated to the low power device for transmitting the data on a common frequency band in a presence of interference from the high power network device on the common frequency band; and   sending an association response message containing the second set of parameters to the low power device in response to the association request message.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining of the second set of parameters for the transmission of the data in the uplink direction comprises:
 identifying a plurality of channels within the frequency band available for the transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on a category of each channel in the frequency band;   determining an interference handling scheme based on the interference from the high power network device on available channels, and an effective received signal power;   allocating one or more channels from the available channels and one or more spreading codes from a code set to the low power device for transmitting the data on the frequency band based on the interference handling scheme; and   computing a maximum data rate for the transmission of the data on the allocated channels based on the interference on the allocated one or more channels.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the second set of parameters comprises the admissible data rate, channel information associated with the allocated channels, code information associated with the allocated codes and signal processing information. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the determining of the interference handling scheme based on the interference from the high power network device on the frequency band and the effective received signal power comprises:
 measuring received signal power from the association request message received from the low power device;   calculating the effective received signal power using the received signal power;   computing a difference between the effective received signal power and the interference on the available channels; and   selecting the interference handling scheme appropriate for transmitting the data on the available channels based on the computed difference.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the identifying of the plurality of channels within the frequency band available for the transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on the category of each channel in the frequency band comprises:
 periodically monitoring interference from the high power network device on the frequency band;   estimating interference on each channel in the frequency band based on the interference measured on a 83.5 MHz bandwidth;   categorizing each channel into a pre-defined category based on the respective interference estimated on the said each channel; and   identifying one or more channels within the frequency band available for the transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on a category of each channel in the frequency band.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining whether a data packet received from the low power device is a first data packet following the association response message;   measuring a Signal to Interference Noise Ratio (SINR) value from the received data packet if the data packet received from the low power device is the first data packet;   determining whether the measured SINR is less than a threshold SINR;   determining an interference handling scheme appropriate for transmitting the data on in the uplink direction based on interference from the high power network device on available channels;   re-allocating one or more channels from the available channels and spreading codes from a code set if the measured SINR is less than the threshold SINR; and   re-computing a maximum data rate for the transmission of the data on the reallocated channels based on the interference on the re-allocated channels; and   sending a notification indicating channel information associated with the re-allocated channels, the spreading codes the re-computed maximum data rate, and signaling processing information to the low power device.   
     
     
         7 . An apparatus for handling interference between a low power network device and a high power network device during communication on a common frequency band, the apparatus comprising:
 a transceiver; and   a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive an association request message comprising a first set of parameters associated with data to be transmitted in uplink direction from the low power network device, and wherein the processor is configured to determine a second set of parameters for transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on the first set of parameters, where the second set of parameters indicates resources allocated to the low power device for transmitting the data on a common frequency band in presence of interference from the high power network device on the common frequency band, and wherein the transceiver is configured to send an association response message containing the second set of parameters to the low power device in response to the association request message.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein in determining the second set of parameters for the transmission of the data in the uplink direction, the processor is configured to:
 identify a plurality of channels within the frequency band available for the transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on a category of each channel in the frequency band;   determine an interference handling scheme based on the interference from the high power network device on available channels, and an effective received signal power;   allocate one or more channels from the available channels and one or more spreading codes from a code set to the low power device for transmitting the data on the frequency band based on the interference handling scheme; and   compute a maximum data rate for transmission of the data on the allocated channels based on the interference on the allocated one or more channels.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the second set of parameters comprises the admissible data rate, channel information associated with the allocated channels, code information associated with the allocated codes and signal processing information. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein in determining the interference handling scheme based on the interference from the high power network device on the frequency band and the effective received signal power associated with the low power device, the processor is configured to:
 measure received signal power from the association request message received from the low power device;   calculate the effective received signal power using the received signal power;   compute a difference between the effective received signal power and the interference on the available channels; and   select the interference handling scheme appropriate for transmitting the data on the available channels based on a computed difference.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein in identifying the plurality of channels within the frequency band available for the transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on the category of each channel in the frequency band, the processor is configured to:
 periodically monitor interference from the high power network device on the frequency band;   estimate interference on each channel in the frequency band based on the interference measured on a 83.5 MHz bandwidth;   categorize each channel into a pre-defined category based on respective interference estimated on the said each channel; and   identify one or more channels within the frequency band available for the transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on a category of each channel in the frequency band.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine whether a data packet received from the low power device is a first data packet following the association response message;   measure Signal to Interference Noise Ratio (SINR) value from the received data packet if the data packet received from the low power device is the first data packet;   determine whether the measured SINR is less than a threshold SINR;   determine an interference handling scheme appropriate for transmitting the data in the uplink direction based on interference from the high power network device on available channels;   re-allocate one or more channels from the available channels and spreading codes from a code set if the measured SINR is less than the threshold SINR;   re-compute a maximum data rate for transmission of the data on the reallocated channels based on the interference on the re-allocated channels; and   send a notification indicating channel information associated with the re-allocated channels, the spreading codes the re-computed maximum data rate, and signaling processing information to the low power device.   
     
     
         13 . A method of communicating control signals with low power device in a downlink direction, the method comprising:
 identifying a first group of contiguous at least one of interference free and low interference channels from a plurality of channels in a frequency band based on a pre-defined category of the plurality of channels;   identifying a second group of at least one of interference free and low interference channels from a remaining of the plurality of channels based on the pre-defined category of the remaining channels;   transmitting a primary control signal on the second group of the at least one of interference free and low interference channels, wherein the primary control signal indicates channel information associated with the first group of the contiguous at least one of the interference free and low interference channels; and   transmitting a main control signal following the primary control signal on the group of the contiguous at least one of the interference free and low interference channels, wherein the main control signal comprises control data.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 periodically monitoring an interference level on the frequency band caused by a high power network device;   estimating interference on each of the plurality of channels within the frequency band based on the interference level on the frequency band; and   categorizing each of the plurality of channels based on respective interference estimated on the said each channel into the pre-defined category.   
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for communicating control signals with low power device in a downlink direction, the apparatus comprising:
 a transceiver; and   a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is configured to identifying a first group of contiguous at least one of interference free and low interference channels from a plurality of channels in a frequency band based on a pre-defined category of the plurality of channels, and wherein the processor is configured to identifying a second group of at least one of interference free and low interference channels from a remaining of the plurality of channels based on the pre-defined category of the remaining channels, and wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit a primary control signal on the second group of the at last one of interference free and low interference channels, where the primary control signal indicates channel information associated with the first group of the contiguous at least one of the interference free and low interference channels, and wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit a main control signal following the primary control signal on the first group of the contiguous at least one of the interference free and low interference channels, where the main control signal comprises control data.   
     
     
         16 . A method of handling interference between a low power network and a high power network, the method comprising:
 sending an association request message to an access point;   receiving an association response message from the access point in response to the association request message, wherein the association response message comprises an admissible data rate, channel information of allocated channels, code information of allocated codes, and a signal processing information;   generating a data signal based on the channel information and the code information; and   transmitting the data signal to the access point on the allocated channels according to the admissible data rate.   
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for handling interference between a low power network and a high power network, the apparatus comprising:
 a transceiver; and   a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the transceiver is configured to send an association request message to an access point, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive an association response message from the access point in response to the association request message, where the association response message comprises an admissible data rate, channel information of allocated channels, code information of allocated codes, and a signal processing information, and wherein the processor is configured to generate a data signal based on the channel information and the code information, and wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the data signal to the access point on the allocated channels according to the admissible data rate.   
     
     
         18 . A transmitter comprising:
 a spreader configured to spread data on each of one or more channels using a unique spreading code to obtain a spread data signal;   a sampling rate converter configured for sampling the spread data signal at a sampling rate;   an up converter configured to convert the spread data signal to a radio frequency signal; and   a Radio Frequency (RF) unit configured to:   process the RF signal based on at least one signal processing scheme to mitigate interference on the one or more channels of a frequency band from high power network device; and   transmit the processed RF signal on the one or more channels.   
     
     
         19 . A receiver comprising:
 a Radio Frequency (RF) unit configured to process a RF signal received from a transmitter on one or more channels of a frequency band;   a band pass filter configured to filter the processed RF signal;   an analog to digital converter configured to convert the analog RF signal into a digital signal; and   a baseband processor configured to process the digital signal to detect data corresponding to an original signal.   
     
     
         20 . A system comprising:
 at least one low power device configured to send an association request message, wherein the association request message comprises a first set of parameters associated with data to be transmitted in uplink direction; and   an access point configured to:   determine a second set of parameters for transmission of the data in the uplink direction based on the first set of parameters, wherein the second set of parameters indicates resources allocated to the low power device for transmitting the data on a common frequency band in presence of interference from high power network device on the common frequency band; and   send an association response message containing the second set of parameters to the low power device in response to the association request message.